1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for sending paging messages to a subscriber.
2. Description of Related Art
The use of wireless communication systems and services has become widespread in the business and home environments. For example, one of the most common methods used today for staying in contact with the home or office is paging. Paging systems are a convenient way to contact a person (or to be contacted) when that person is not close to a telephone or at a location where the telephone number is not known.
However, when a paging system subscriber is in his or her own office environment, receiving pages may become impractical or difficult due to reception problems, etc. In addition, some paging subscribers turn off or do not carry their pagers when in the office, making it difficult to contact them.
The invention provides a network paging system that includes a method and apparatus for sending messages to a subscriber. When one party attempts to contact another party, via a page message for example, the system may determine if the paged party is logged onto the network system. If the paged party is logged onto the network, the page message may be sent to the paged party""s personal computer. If the paged party is not logged onto the network, the page message may be sent to the paged party""s pager. Advantageously, the invention eliminates the need or expense to send a message both via the Internet and a pager.
These and other features and advantages of this invention are described in or are apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.